SIOUX CITY EXPLORERS PRESS RELEASE
Phone: 817.739.3693
Website: xsbaseball.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 17, 2026
EXPLORERS ADD FAMILIAR FACE AND NEWCOMER
PAIR OF VETERANS HEADED TO SIOUX CITY
SIOUX CITY, Iowa – The Sioux City Explorers have announced that the team has signed veteran catcher Wilfredo Gimenez and first baseman and catcher Yorman Rodriguez to contracts for the 2026 season. The two additions bring the total of players under contract for the Explorers and Manager Steve Montgomery to 18 for 2026
Wilfredo Gimenez is no stranger to Siouxland; he played for the Explorers in 2023 and was signed to return for the 2024 season but never played for the ball club. The 2026 season will mark the third time he has signed a contract with the Explorers. Since 2024, Gimenez has spent two winters playing in his native Venezuela and in Colombia. In the winter of 2024-2025, he played in 16 games for Aragua, hitting .250, and in the previous winter-ball season, he played for Caracas, suiting up in 28 games for the Vaqueros in the Colombian Winter League. Gimenez hit .152 in 28 games while in Colombia.
In 2023, Gimenez played 63 games while catching 53 for Sioux City. Gimenez blasted seven home runs and drove in 39 runs. His 39 RBI were good for third on the team while he slashed a .277/.335/.427 line during the 2023 season. The catcher’s seven home runs and 39 RBI were his second highest single-season totals while his .277 clip was his full-season professional high. While Gimenez battled injuries during the latter part of the season, his bat was on fire during the postseason for the X’s. He would go 10-for-19 over five games with one homer and three RBI while scoring three runs. Gimenez went 4-for-5 with two RBI in the X’s 8-1 win over Kansas City on September 11 in game one of the American Association West Division Championship Series.
Despite battling injuries during the second half of the season, Gimenez was a difference maker when in the lineup. He would hit .283 in August with four home runs and 19 RBI during the final full month of the season. The RBI total would lead the Explorers for the month of August. On August 27, the native of Venezuela would provide the key offensive punch for the Explorers in a 3-2 win over Fargo-Moorhead, going 2-for-4 with a home run and two RBI. The win was also the 500th win for Manager Steve Montgomery.
Gimenez first signed with the X’s on May 13, 2023, after spending the 2022 season with the Lake Country DockHounds. With Lake Country, he played in 79 games, stepping up to the plate 300 times and earning a .292 OBP. He spent 2017-2019 with the Gary SouthShore RailCats. In his three seasons with the RailCats, Gimenez played in 117 games, hitting a combined .242 with seven home runs and 74 RBI. A late-season trade would send Gimenez to Fargo-Moorhead in 2019 where he would finish as part of the RedHawks playoff run. Prior to joining Gary in 2017, Gimenez took two years away from baseball after his stint in the minor leagues with the Marlins organization. He spent parts of seven seasons in the Marlins system, posting a career MiLB slash line of .253/.298/.331 in 404 games with 10 home runs and 162 RBI. Gimenez, 35, was signed by the Florida Marlins in 2008, reaching double A in 2014. He was born in Maracay, Venezuela and has played a total of 894 professional games over 15 seasons of pro ball. Defensively, Gimenez has thrown out 29% of would-be base runners in 761 games behind the plate in his career.
Yorman Rodriguez comes to Sioux City after having played first base and catching over the course of his 10 seasons of professional baseball. He was an international free agent signee by the Toronto Blue Jays organization in 2014 and would spend five seasons in the Toronto system reaching Low-A before being claimed off waivers by the San Diego Padres on December 10, 2020. The native of Venezuela would spend three seasons in the San Diego farm system, reaching Triple-A El Paso on two separate occasions. He spent the winter of 2025-2026 playing for Aragua in Venezuela. In 2024, Rodriguez played in 45 games with Leon in the Mexican League, hitting .319 with five home runs and 21 RBI.
In 2023, Rodriguez spent his last season with the San Diego Padres organization, playing in 50 games between Triple-A El Paso and Double-A San Antonio. For the season he would slash a line of /257/.298/.396, hitting 5 homers with 34 RBI. In 2022 Rodriguez played a career high 122 games for Double-A San Antonio, clubbing 15 home runs and knocking in 83 runs finishing the season with a .279/.328/.422 slash line for the Missions. He would lead the team in long balls and RBI for the season, and his 25 doubles were good for second on the team. Rodriguez also finished fifth in the Texas League in RBI for the 2022 season.
Rodriguez made three stops in the Padres chain in 2021. He began the season at A-Level Fort Wayne in the Midwest League where he played 22 games, hitting .289 with a pair of home runs and 13 RBI. Rodriguez then made a mid-June move up to Double-A San Antonio, playing 14 games with a home run and an RBI before a July promotion to Triple-A El Paso. The Padres would send him back to Fort Wayne in early August before returning to El Paso later in the month. With El Paso, he hit .323 in 21 games with six home runs and 12 RBI. For the season, Rodriguez played in 68 games with nine home runs and 27 RBI, slashing a line of .294/.454.
After not playing in 2020 due to the world-wide pandemic, Rodriguez spent his last season in the Toronto Blue Jays organization, playing 22 games at A-level Lansing in the Midwest League and at low-A Vancouver in the Northwest League. In 62 games during the 2019 season, he hit a combined .360 with five home runs and 40 RBI. In 2018 he would play just five games at Rookie-Level Gulf Coast and another 45 games at Vancouver. Rodriguez would hit .267 in 45 games for Vancouver with one round trip and thirty RBI.
In 2017, Rodriguez once again split time with two teams in the Blue Jays farm system. He spent 57 games in the Rookie-level Appalachian League with Bluefield and just five games a step up the ladder with Vancouver. For the season he finished with a combined slash line of .333/.362/.414 in 62 games with three home runs and 36 RBI. Rodriguez made two rookie stops in 2016 for Toronto. He would play in 46 games in the Dominican Summer League, hitting .324 with a home run and 35 RBI, and he added another 21 games in the Gulf Coast League, hitting .296 with two home runs and five RBI.
Rodriguez made his professional debut in 2015 after inking with Toronto during the previous summer. He would play 61 games, hitting two long blasts with 45 RBI with the Blue Jays team in the DSL. Rodriguez finished the year slashing a line of .335/.413/.455. Rodriguez’s 45 RBI total was good for second on the club, and the 58 walks that he worked would lead the team. He bats and throws right and hails from Maracay, Venezuela.
2026 Players signed:
INF Cameron Bufford
RHP Ryan Beaird
RHP Trey Morrill
LHP Ben DeTaeye
C Dillon Tatum
IF Braulio Vasquez
IF Alberto Osuna
OF Yeison Asencio
IF Elliot Good
RHP Tahnaj Thomas
RHP Julio Rosario
RHP Peniel Otaño
LHP Reed Butz
RHP Max Charnin
OF Jackson Mayo
IF Zane Denton
C Wilfredo Gimenez
IF Yorman Rodriguez
The Explorers are set to open their 33rd season in Siouxland on the road on Friday night, May 15, against the Chicago Dogs. The club will celebrate opening night at Lewis and Clark Park on Friday night, May 22, against the Lincoln Saltdogs. Ticket packages for the 2026 season along with sponsorship and partner opportunities are available now by calling the Explorers front office at 712-277-WINS. Follow the Explorers social media channels and the club’s website xsbaseball.com for off-season news and updates.
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